Glenn Gould

I grew up listening to Glenn Gould. In addition to the Bach recordings, one of my favorite albums by Gould is his Renaissance CD, music of Byrd, Gibbons, and Sweelinck.

That CD inspired me to get a hold of the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book and the Ladye Nevells Booke of Renaissance keyboard music. I learned Sellinger’s Round and a few other pieces from the collections. Later I transcribed some Dowland songs for piano solo.

To my ears, Renaissance music has a fresh, clean sound. It is a shame that this wonderful keyboard music is not part of the standard piano repertoire which usually starts with Bach and Scarlatti.